| 36th Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Venue | Arena Armeec |
| Location |  Sofia, Bulgaria |
| Start date | 10 September 2018 |
| End date | 16 September 2018 |
| Competitors | 362 from 61 nations |
The 2018 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships were held in Sofia, Bulgaria, from 10 to 16 September 2018 at Arena Armeec.[1] The top three countries in the group all-around, Russia, Italy, and Bulgaria won the first three spots for the 2020 Olympic Games.[2] Russia was the most successful nation of the competition with seven of the nine gold medals, and Bulgaria and Italy each won a title.
On 11 September, Russia's Dina Averina won the first two gold medals of the competition, in the hoop and ball event finals. In the hoop final, Linoy Ashram won the silver medal, the best-ever result for Israel at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships, and in the ball final, Alexandra Agiurgiuculese won Italy's first individual medal in twenty-seven years.[3] Then on 13 September, Averina won the clubs gold medal, and Aleksandra Soldatova won the ribbon gold medal. Milena Baldassarri won the silver medal in the ribbon final, the best-ever result for Italy in the individual events of the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships. In the team final, Russia won the gold medal, Bulgaria won a team medal for the first time since 2001 with the silver, and Italy won its first-ever team medal with the bronze.[4] On 14 September, Averina defended her World all-around title ahead of Ashram and Soldatova.[5] Russia won the gold medal in the group all-around, ahead of Italy and Bulgaria.[2] In the group event finals, Bulgaria won gold in 5 hoops, and Italy won gold in 3 balls + 2 ropes.[6]
